


Somewhere quiet and dark

by timetogoslumming



Series: Camp Mountain Ridge [4]
Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Anxiety Attacks, M/M, Panic Attacks, basically davey has an anxiety attack and jack comforts him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-06-01
Packaged: 2018-11-07 14:50:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11061264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timetogoslumming/pseuds/timetogoslumming
Summary: Jack finds Davey, who is just getting over a panic attack at camp.





	Somewhere quiet and dark

“Have you seen Davey around anywhere?” a worried Jack asked Specs as Specs walked by on the way to see Romeo. 

“I saw him going down toward the lake earlier,” Specs replied, jerking his head toward the water. The area around the lake was completely cloaked in darkness, and since it was a cloudy night, not even the stars and moon were reflecting on the water. 

“Thanks,” Jack replied before starting toward the water. He approached without a light, but called out as soon as he was close enough to be heard without raising his voice. “Davey? Are you out here?”

A moment passed before he heard Davey from the direction of the docks. “Over here,” he said shakily, before flicking on a flashlight so Jack could see the path. Davey was sitting on the edge of the dock with one leg pulled up to his chest and the other dangling over the water. He propped his chin on his knee, kind of hugging himself inward. 

“What’s up?” Jack asked, taking a seat next to Davey.

Davey shrugged. “I’m just not feeling well,” he replied shakily. 

Jack took a closer look at him. He certainly looked ashen and shaken up. “Do you need to go see Medda?”

“That won’t help,” Davey said, shaking his head. “I just… I didn’t realize I was so low on my medication and I ran out a couple of days ago. I’ve been feeling anxious all week and it just kind of piled up tonight.”

“What happened?” Jack asked. He gently reached out and put a hand on Davey’s back. When Davey didn’t shy away, Jack started rubbing slow circles there. 

“Nothing,” Davey said into his knee. “We were getting the kids ready for bed, and Rashad started saying he wasn’t going to shower, and he was just sort of acting out- not even badly, mind you. Just a little bit. And I don’t know. I sort of lost it.”

“Did you do anything?”

He shook his head. “No. I just told Romeo I needed a break and came down here.” He laughed humorlessly. “Kind of had a panic attack, but it’s fine. Nothing happened.”

“Why didn’t you come find me?” 

Davey turned to look at Jack. “Have you ever had a panic attack?” Jack shook his head. “I wasn’t thinking clearly. I just needed to get somewhere quiet and dark. Besides, it’s not exactly something I like people to see.”

Jack kept rubbing circles in Davey’s back and Davey leaned into his touch. “I’m here now,” Jack said. “What can I do?”

“Just distract me. I just feel like shit.” Jack leaned in to kiss Davey, but Davey pulled back. “Not like that,” he said. “Talk to me.”

“Did I ever tell you about the time me and the guys glitter bombed Flushing?” Davey shook his head and Jack smiled. He pulled Davey in close and spoke softly, practically whispering in his ear. “Well, I was in the same cabin as Crutchie, Specs, and Mush one summer. And some other guys, but you wouldn’t know them. And we had these really strict counselors, Myron and Bart, right? So we came up with this plan to prank them and started stealing glitter from the art hut. Just a little bit at a time, but enough that pretty soon, we had pretty much all of the glitter. The art director was a bigger stoner than Blink and Mush and didn’t notice.”

“How’d you know he was a stoner?” Davey asked.

Jack laughed. “Anyone with a functioning sense of smell knew. Anyway, we stole all this glitter and finally had enough, so one day when we were down here for canoeing, me and the guys- the original squad, you know- me, Crutchie, Specs, and Mush- started pretending we had food poisoning from some meat we had cooked over the fire. So Myron and Bart sent us up to Flushing to use the bathrooms, but we snuck into the staff cabin and put glitter everywhere.

“I really mean everywhere. It was in their toiletry bags, in their shoes, in their beds- we poured some into someone’s shampoo- even rubbed some into their deodorants. But the best part was Crutchie’s idea. We spread it out across the tops of the ceiling fan blades so when they turned the fan on later, it rained down over the whole cabin. It was amazing. I’m pretty sure if you look hard enough, you’ll still find glitter in there.”

“Did you get in trouble?” Davey asked. 

Jack nodded. “Oh, yeah. We all lost a week’s worth of swim time. But it was definitely worth it.”

“Jack?” Davey said quietly. He had relaxed enough that by this point, he was lying down on the dock with his head in Jack’s lap as Jack ran his fingers through his hair. 

“Yeah?”

“I would have hated you as a camper.”

Jack grinned. “Honestly? You should. I was the worst. How are you feeling now?”

Davey closed his eyes. “Keep playing with my hair.”

“Your hair’s curly,” Jack commented. “I never noticed.”

“It’s getting too long, that’s why,” Davey replied. “I need to get it cut.”

Jack twisted a short curl around his finger. “I like it like this.”

“That’s pure Judaism for you, buddy.”

They sat there in the dark for a while without speaking while they listened to the chorus of bullfrogs and cicadas around them. “I have to go into town for a meeting tomorrow,” Jack finally said quietly. “I’ll pick up your meds for you.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Davey protested.

“I don’t want you to have to go without just because you’re stuck here until Friday,” Jack said firmly. 

“Thanks,” Davey said softly. 

“What should I do if this happens again?” Jack asked.

Davey closed his eyes again, enjoying the feeling of Jack’s fingers on his scalp. “Get me somewhere quiet and dark, like this,” he said. “And then leave me alone. I’m serious. I don’t like losing control around people. It just makes it worse. And then after… just do this, you know?”

“Does it happen often.” 

“Not since I got on medication,” Davey replied. “Still… sometimes. It happened for the first time at a soccer game when I was a kid, when I got called in to play away from the bench for the first time. I got onto the field and as soon as the ball started coming toward me, I couldn’t breathe and I started seeing spots.” He laughed under his breath. “Needless to say, my soccer career was short-lived. I didn’t even know it was a panic attack at the time. I kept trying to convince my parents that I had asthma.”

Jack could picture a much younger Davey, who looked a lot like Les, in his head, running out in a tiny soccer jersey and then freezing in the middle of the field. The image was heartbreaking. “I’ll leave you alone when you need me to,” Jack said quietly. “But you don’t have to get past this stuff by yourself anymore.” Davey reached up and squeezed Jack’s knee affectionately, and they sat in companionable silence until he was almost falling asleep. Jack walked Davey back up to his cabin, where he fell asleep almost as soon as he hit the sheets.


End file.
